The HALI team works with Ruaha National Park veterinarians to safely restrain an adult giraffe for sampling. Giraffes in the park have been suffering from a skin disease, leading to a partnership between the park, HALI, and Sokoine University to identify the cause of the disease and intervention options. (Photo by Goodluck Paul)

HALI Partnerships with the Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute and National Parks

- Goodluck Paul and
David Wolking

In May 2013, HALI project veterinarians,
including project leads Dr. Jonna Mazet and Professor Rudovick Kazwala, were
invited by RUNAPA to participate in a giraffe immobilization exercise to collect
samples for an investigation into an emerging skin disease impacting giraffe herd health at the park. In collaboration
with RUNAPA veterinarians, Serengeti National Park veterinarians and other
staff from the Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA), the team safely immobilized
16 giraffes, and samples were sent to SUA for laboratory investigation. Once the samples are analyzed, results
will be shared with the park staff, and options for skin disease intervention will be carefully considered.

We were able to document the immobilization event in our slide show (see Twiga Take-Down). It is no small feat to safely inject
drugs and guide Earth’s tallest terrestrial animal to ground-level for
sampling, and even more difficult to get them back on their feet again, but the team did an excellent job ensuring no giraffes were injured,
and that all animals safely recovered and returned to their lives browsing on twigs and
leaves from tops of acacia trees, ruminating on life, necking, and tending to
young calves.

What’s on the table now?

This month in northern Tanzania, HALI’s PREDICT project is
training TAWIRI wildlife veterinarians in the safe capture, handling and
sampling of small mammals like bats in the Tanga and Arusha regions.
PREDICT is investigating bats as a potential animal host species for
zoonotic diseases, and is sampling bat colonies and roosting sites throughout
Tanzania.

Later this year, in mid or late September, HALI is planning another
collaborative activity with Ruaha
National Park and TAWIRI to conduct an aerial and ground survey of
buffalo populations in the southern part of the Park. These surveys help the park better understand the buffalo population and herd health, and assist in park wildlife management plans.

Future collaborations?

HALI looks forward
to fostering other collaborations and sharing project experience on disease
surveillance, animal handling, and investigations into emerging and re-emerging
infectious diseases throughout the country. We hope these partnerships are just the beginning, and that
we continue to join forces with the National Parks, TAWIRI and others to better
understand disease and improve health at the wildlife-human-livestock and
environmental interfaces in Tanzania.

What does it take to safely anesthetize and collect samples from an adult giraffe (twiga in Kiswahli)? In short, a very carefully planned take-down with highly trained veterinarians and wildlife health technicians....

Check out our slideshow to learn more about HALI's partnership with Ruaha National Park and Sokoine University of Agriculture veterinarians on an investigation into an emerging skin disease in the local giraffe population.

Read more about HALI Partnerships in Wildlife Health here...

Ruaha National Park staff have been monitoring the local giraffe population and noticed a new skin disease impacting giraffe health. With assistance from Park veterinarians, Sokoine University experts, and the HALI team, the Park launched a field investigation to collect samples for analysis to characterize the cause of the disease and identify some treatment options.

With a dart gun loaded, veterinarians in the white vehicle carefully approach the target giraffe. Although the landscape looks ideal, hidden challenges like bushes, ravines, and even snakes make giraffe captures a strenuous undertaking.

HALI project driver, Amani,
keeps the park truck with the animal handling team in sight. The vehicles
follow as the darted giraffe slowly moves through the landscape. Once the
anesthetic drugs take effect, the team moves in with ropes to safely restrain
the giraffe and help lower it to the ground.

Once the giraffe is down, the team moves in to
restrain the head. A sandbag under the neck offers support, and the blindfold
helps to keep the sedated giraffe calm while samples are collected.

It takes a large team to immobilize a giraffe
safely. HALI and Ruaha National Park staff collaborate to ensure a safe and
successful disease investigation. The people holding the ropes are restraining
the giraffe's powerful legs until she is ready to be released.

Ruaha National Park
veterinarian, Dr. Alex Epaphras (left), and Sokoine University of Agriculture
veterinarian, Dr. Mpanduji, remove the dart from the giraffe's side. With the
anesthetic drugs wearing off, these wildlife immobilization experts quickly
wrap up the sampling and get the team safely out of the area. After a final
check to make sure the giraffe is doing well, they inject a drug to reverse the
anesthesia. Under many watchful eyes, the giraffe wakes up and heads back into
the bush.

HALI thanks the veterinary
team at Ruaha National Park for inviting us to participate in this important
research. We admire the dedication of park staff to understanding and
protecting wildlife health.

On June 15th, the HALI project is hosting the 3rd annual Ruaha Roundtable Meeting in Iringa, Tanzania. These roundtable meetings provide a forum for discussion and planning involving stakeholders working in natural resource management, health, and development in the Ruaha Ecosystem. Participants include Tanzania National Parks - Ruaha National Park personnel, the Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania Veterinary Investigation Centres, livestock extension officers and district game officers, the Wildlife Conservation Society Ruaha Landscape Program, the Friends of Ruaha Society, Ruaha Carnivore Project, The Wildlife Connection, representatives from the Ruaha tourist industry and hunting companies, and other interested stakeholders in conservation, resource management and health.

This year's roundtable meeting will emphasize discussions on projects and activities in the area, along with a working session on data sharing and potential collaborations among projects. HALI is excited to host our friend and former project collaborator Alphonce Msigwa for a special student research presentation. Alphonse is finishing his research at Sokoine University of Agriculture, and will give the opening presentation entitled “Diversity and relative abundances of small mammalian carnivores in MBOMIPA Wildlife Management Area” at the meeting.

We look forward to these roundtables to connect with our partners and stakeholders, and to improve collaborations and communications among research and intervention programs in the area. One of our HALI team members will post a summary of the meeting outcome with some photos on the blog in a few weeks, along with any meeting highlights and plans for moving forward.

- David Wolking

"The role of disease in wildlife populations has probably been radically underestimated" - Aldo Leopold

So begins the special issue Disease Package in the Wildlife Professional, the quarterly magazine of the Wildlife Society. In case you missed this last Spring, you need to check it out. Why? Because it's amazing and everyone loves packages. Even disease packages. As a special treat for HALI fans, our very own Drs. Deana Clifford and Jonna Mazet have a special feature on page 20 "One Health Drives Wildlife Vets". There are also great contributions on why disease is relevant in wildlife conservation, the role of disease in marine ecosystems, and of course on infectious disease spillover, that often referenced human-animal interface we spend so much of our time investigating through projects like HALI and PREDICT. So check it out, and if you like it, consider supporting the Wildlife Society so they can keep making these great publications and give us more packages!

- David Wolking

If you're a person who's wandered through the forest and come across a dead animal or a carcass, or been driving down a country road and spotted road kill and wondered "Hey, maybe that thing was killed by some crazy infectious disease!" then you're in the right place. Once you enter the world of disease it's really hard to look at life (or death) the same way again.

Check it out and let us know what you think, this handbook is supposed to be interactive - we even developed some excellent case studies to put you right in the thick of some crazy situations (rabid dogs and hyenas anyone?). For our East African friends, we even have a version in Kiswahli. Soma! Thanks to the US Fish and Wildlife Service Wildlife Without Borders project for supporting this initiative, along with the Tanzania National Parks and MBOMIPA community game scouts who actually do stumble upon dead wildlife and need to know this stuff.

HALI Project

The Health for Animals and Livelihood Improvement (HALI) project works with local stakeholders to investigate health at the human-animal-environment interface in Tanzania.

Join the HALI Team...

HALI is supported by grant funding, awards, and through the contributions of our network of dedicated volunteers and team members. To ensure sustainability of our programs and to keep our talented teams and activities funded, HALI relies upon philanthropic support from private donors. Please consider supporting the HALI project by visiting our donation center at the UC Davis Wildlife Health Center.